Mural ordinance defining art could soon be on its way to City Council
A long awaited ordinance that will spell out in detail how murals and commercial advertising are separate could be heading to the Los Angeles City Council. The Department of City Planning is slated to recommend moving its final draft mural ordinance to the council Thursday, Sept. 13 after completing a nearly yearlong process of crafting a new municipal law that will define artwork and make the distinction between art and advertising. A staff report from Planning Director Michael LoGrande also recommends that the council adopt the ordinance that is being proposed. Councilman Bill Rosendahl proposed creating a new ordinance for mural art last year after hearing from many of his constituents in Venice, Del Rey and Mar Vista who have been pressing for such a law. The recommended ordinance would allow muralists to acquire city permits to paint or install their artworks and not be subjected to the regulation of the last decade. “The proposed ordinance updates Chapter One of the Los Angeles Municipal Code to establish new definitions for ‘original art murals’ to replace the old definition of a mural sign,” planning officials wrote in a recent report. “In doing so, it exempts new and existing murals from a number of requirements and prohibitions, which apply to murals regulated as signs. “New proposed administrative rule on original art murals to be implemented by the Department of Cultural Affairs...
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